Reunited
by Pikagirl541
Summary: Ryou and Amane want their father to accept Bakura as a son. Their father wants them to accept his new girlfriend as a future stepmother. Like a good family, they compromise. But Nikkou has a surprise for Bakura. How will it affect the family? Note: This is the Duel Monsters version of what happened when Nikou met Ryou, Amane, and Yami Bakura in my Season Zero fanfic.


"Ryou, I picked up your prescription." His father placed a pill bottle on the countertop. "I want you to take it this time."

"You know I don't like taking it." Ryou said.

"I figured that out when you emptied the last bottle into the trash."

Bakura took over the body he shared. "Why can't you just think of me as a son?"

"You are not my son! Ryou is my son, and you are nothing more than a parasite!"

"Stop yelling at him!" Amane came out of her bedroom. "Ryou and I both think of him as our brother. You never even gave him a chance."

"Amane, he's dangerous." Her father said. "I know he's been around from a long time, and you probably don't remember what Ryou was like before him, but he isn't real. He's a fake personality."

"He's so much more than that!" Amane protested.

Bakura through the pill bottle against the wall and stormed out the door.

"Wait!" Amane followed her brother all the way to the end of the street.

"You don't have to follow me." Bakura said. "I'll come home later."

Amane shook her head. "I'll stay with you."

Bakura started walking at a normal pace now. "Those pills won't work."

"Then why do you keep throwing them?"

"They're a symbol of oppression, and taking them would be a symbol of submission."

"Maybe we should have a talk. You know, as a family?"

"He'll never listen." Bakura said quickly. "I really don't want to talk, okay?"

They walked for a while before resting at the park.

"Why don't you want to talk?" Amane couldn't stand the silence.

"He won't listen." Bakura lay out on the grass. "Ryou, I think you should take over."

Ryou obediently took control of his body. "I feel bad for him."

"I do too." Amane said. "Whether he wants to or not, we need to talk with dad."

"Let's head home."

The twins walked back to their house.

"We're home." Ryou let his sister into the house first.

Their father ran to hug them. "I was worried he hurt you."

"Bakura would never hurt us." Ryou said. "Don't you think that, if he wanted to hurt us, he'd have done it in the nine years he's been here?"

"He's hurt a lot of people."

"Only to protect me, and he's not doing that anymore."

"Dad, we want to talk to you about Bakura." Amane said. "We're sick of arguing all the time."

"Alright." Their father sat down in his chair.

Ryou and Amane sat down on opposite sides of the couch, with Bakura in between them.

"Bakura is like a brother to us." Ryou said. "I know you think we only care about him because we don't remember life without him, but he's always felt like a brother."

"We admit that he has some problems." Amane said. "You have to realize that he was 'born' nine years ago, and since then you have made no attempt to raise him."

"We've done our best to teach him, but we're not parents." Ryou said. "He really wants you to be his father, like you should be."

Their father sighed. "Ryou, you are schizophrenic. I don't know if you still believe Bakura is a spirit from your pendant, but he's not real. I don't understand why you care about him."

"And we don't understand why you hate him." Ryou said. "Please, dad, give him a chance."

"Just spend some time with him." Amane pleaded. "He needs a parent."

"I'll make you kids a deal." Mr. Bakura said. "I'll give Bakura a chance, if you give my new girlfriend a chance."

"When did you start dating again?!" Ryou asked.

"Months ago." His father replied. "I knew you wouldn't be happy so I've been waiting for the right time to tell you."

"Don't you care about mom anymore?" Amane felt ready to cry.

"Of course I care about her, but I've fallen in love again." Mr. Bakura said. "So, do we have a deal?"

Ryou and Amane looked at each other and nodded slightly.

"Yes." Ryou said. "We'll give her as fair of a chance as you give Bakura."

"Perfect." Their father replied. "I'll invite her over tomorrow."

That night Bakura stayed in his physical form. His bed was a sleeping bag. Since the house had only two bedrooms, all three children had to share. The twins had bunk beds. Ryou had the top and Amane had the bottom. But above the top bunk was a kind of loft that Ryou's mother had added for Bakura to set up his makeshift bed, although she had told her husband that it was for the twin's toys.

"Do you think she likes kids?" Amane asked.

"Maybe." Ryou replied. "Let's try not to worry, okay? We'll meet her soon enough."

It was late when the children drifted off to sleep. The next thing they knew their father was knocking on their door.

"Time to get up!" Mr. Bakura called. "Nikkou will be here in an hour!"

Bakura was the first out of bed. "This is a big day. He's finally going to treat me like a son."

"And we're going to be nice to his girlfriend." Ryou reminded himself.

_Mom wanted Bakura to be a part of this family._ Amane remembered. "I-I bet she's nice."

The children went downstairs, where their father was waiting for them.

"Kids, I'd like you to meet Nikkou." Mr. Bakura introduced.

"Nice to meet you, ma'am." The twins replied together.

"H-Hi." Bakura, unsure of what to say, stuttered.

"The pleasure's all mine." Nikkou replied. "I've always wanted children."

Ryou forced a smile. "Well, I do hope three won't be too many."

"Not at all." Nikkou returned the boys' smile, accept hers was sincere. "May I ask your names?"

"I'm Ryou."

"I'm Amane."

"A-And I'm… Bakura."

"Bakura? Your first and last names are the same?" Nikkou eyed the spirit. _Is that… the millennium ring?_

"Um… Well… You see…" Bakura struggled to make an excuse. "I prefer to be addressed by my last name."

"Oh?" This explanation puzzled the visitor.

"Surely, if Nikkou were to become your stepmom, you would want her to use your first name?" Mr. Bakura said. _I can't believe you didn't think of a name!_

_Think fast!_ Ryou told himself. "His first name is Yami."

"But he also has a classmate by the same name, so he's grown accustom to using our last name." Amane added.

"Who's the oldest?" Nikkou asked.

"We're triplets, ma'am." Amane replied. "Bakura was born first, then Ryou, and then me." _Although Bakura is really three-thousand years older than us._

The visitor stayed for several hours. Sometimes she spoke of herself, but mostly she was interested in her boyfriends' children.

"I suppose I should be going." Nikkou said politely. "It's getting late, and I don't like to drive after dark." She looked through her purse several times before turning to her boyfriend. "Have you seen my keys?"

"No." Mr. Bakura replied.

Bakura swallowed hard. "I-I'm sorry." He handed the visitor her keys and lowered his head. "I-I couldn't help myself."

"You took my keys?" Nikkou's voice was stern now. _There's only one person who could steal from me._

"Yes." Bakura replied shyly.

"We're so sorry, ma'am." Ryou said quickly. "Bakura's a bit of a kleptomaniac."

Without anyone noticing, Nikkou purposely dropped her watch on the floor. "I suppose it can't be helped. Thank you for returning them."

No sooner was Nikkou out the door then the watch caught Bakura's eye. He quickly grabbed it and went after her. "You dropped this."

"I know, Akefia." Nikkou replied with a grim.

"H-How did you-" The spirit was too stunned to finish.

"Maybe this will ring a bell." Nikkou took a deep breath, and began to sing.

"Sleep

My sweet baby

Dream

With all your heart

A heart I know

To be pure and true

Know this

My son

Mother will always love you

No matter what you do"

"Mother…" Bakura's eyes filled with tear of joy. "I-I've missed you so much!"

"And I've missed you." Nikkou gave her son a big hug. "You'll be glad to know Jendayi is doing well."

Ryou came rushing out of the house with his sister. "Is everything alright?"

Bakura dried his eyes. "She's my mother."

"And that's how I knew it was you." Nikkou told Bakura. "Only the Thief King could steal from a child of Kul Elna, let alone the Thief Queen, without being noticed."

"But I don't understand." Bakura thought about his father back in Kul Elna. "Don't you love father anymore?"

"Your father and I aren't married anymore." Nikkou said. "It's not that we don't still care about each other. It's just that, after all these years, we're not in love like we used to be."

"Oh…"

"There's no need to be sad. We're still friends, just like we were as children."

Mr. Bakura, who'd been watching from the window, approached his children. "I'm so sorry, Nikkou. I'm sure my children don't mean to delay you."

"Bakura was simply returning my watch." Nikkou said. "I dropped it inside."

"He gets emotional sometimes." Ryou said "Remember?"

Nikkou rustled Bakura's hair. "I hope to see you all again soon."

Mr. Bakura led his children back inside. "You two behaved very well."

"I believe you mean three." Ryou corrected.

"Stealing someone's keys-" Mr. Bakura, seeing the hurt look on Bakura's face, stopped himself. "Are you okay?"

"I-I don't know." Bakura replied. "I feel… confused."

"Do you want to talk?" _They kept their end of the deal, now it's time for me to keep mine._

Ryou gave Bakura a look as if to say "Talk to him."

"Y-Yes." Bakura stuttered.

"We'll leave you two alone." Amane said.

As the twins left the room, their father sat down with the spirit.

"What's wrong?" For the first time, Mr. Bakura saw the sprit as a person. "You look like you're going to cry."

Without thinking about it, Bakura leaned on his hikari's fathers' shoulder. "The way she ruffled my hair made me think of my childhood."

"Did you have a good childhood?"

"The first eight years of my life were the best. I couldn't have asked for more; a loving family, plenty of friends, and we lived in the most wonderful village in all of Egypt." Bakura broke into tears. "But I lost it all!" It took a while for the thief to calm down enough to speak again. "The Pharaoh had all of my villagers sacrificed to create the millennium items. I ran off and set my baby sister adrift in the Nile, so that she could live. I had to watch as everyone else in Kul Elna was brutally slain, melted in liquid gold, and made into those damn items!"

"I never knew…" Mr. Bakura said quietly.

"I tried my best to avenge my village, but all I did was lower myself to the level of those soldiers. I served a demon and allowed vengeance to consume my life. I grew up surrounded by the spirits of my loved ones, who didn't even get to pass on. My sister had been found and adopted by the Pharaoh and was raised a princess." Bakura's voice was breaking. "Death came as a relief. I stayed in my village, and one day my horse brought back a baby girl. It was clear that she was an orphan, and I raised her as my own." The spirit took a deep breath. Thinking about his daughter calmed him down a bit. "I like to think I was a good father to Jendayi. She eventually went to live with her Aunt Mana in the palace and became close friends with the Prince; the great-grandson of the man who destroyed my village."

"Yet, from what I've been told, you still found it in your heart to look after my children." The father held the sprit close.

"I guess the father in me never want away." Bakura sighed. "I haven't cried like this in thousands of years."

"You shouldn't hold your feelings inside. From now on, you can talk to me whenever you need to."

The spirit just lay there and cried himself to sleep. He woke up to find his hikari standing over him.

"Dad says we're going somewhere." Ryou said. "We need to get ready."

The sun was just coming up when Mr. Bakura got into the drivers' seat.

"Where are we going?" Ryou asked.

"It's a surprise." His father replied. _A big surprise._

Bakura sat in between the twins. _Did I do something wrong?_

"Oh, please give us a hint!" Amane pleaded.

Mr. Bakura laughed. "No hints this time; you'll find out soon enough."

The drive seemed to drag on forever. All three children were in suspense the whole way. The car pulled up behind a building, so the kids didn't see where they were.

"Stay in the car." Mr. Bakura said. "I'll be right back."

_He doesn't like me._ Bakura thought miserably. _He must think I'm too much trouble. I can't really blame him, after the way I cried._

Mr. Bakura wasted no time getting back to the car. "This is yours." He handed a piece of paper the Bakura.

"Yami Bakura." The spirit read his name off the top of the paper. "Born on… this is a birth certificate!"

"Surprise!" Mr. Bakura gave his new son a hug. "I've got a friend who has certain… connections, and he agreed to make you a birth certificate."

"Oh, thank you!" Bakura exclaimed. "Thank you, dad!"


End file.
